Penn State Centre Stage will produce six shows during its 2017-18 mainstage season, with tickets on sale beginning July 17. “This season offers something for everyone and theatrical riches for all,” said William J. Doan, newly appointed director of the School of Theatre and artistic director of Penn State Centre Stage.

Penn State Centre Stage will present Adam Guettel’s hit musical "The Light in the Piazza," April 4-15 at the Penn State Downtown Theatre Center, with direction by Penn State master of fine arts directing candidate Darcy Evans and musical direction by master of fine arts musical directing candidate Chris Rayis.

Penn State Centre Stage will present Robert O’Hara’s satiric play "Barbecue" from March 24 to April 1 at the Pavilion Theatre at University Park. Penn State School of Theatre faculty member Steve H. Broadnax III directs the production.

Having a musical written just for you is a performer’s dream. And it’s one being lived by Penn State senior B.F.A. Musical Theatre students, who are currently working with up-and-coming writer and performer Joe Iconis, who was commissioned to develop a musical especially for the Class of 2017.

The research and creative activity of College of Arts and Architecture faculty members is on display in a series of videos produced by the college. The third video in the series features Richard St. Clair, head of costume design for the School of Theatre, discussing the design and production of hats for the fall 2015 production of "Titanic."

Penn State Centre Stage has partnered with fellow Big Ten Conference schools to commission, produce and distribute new plays in an effort to create exciting and empowering roles for young women. The program’s first commissioned work, "Good Kids," explores the very public and unsettling aftermath of a sex crime and its cover-up. Who's telling the truth? Whose version of the story do you believe? And what does that say about you? Penn State Centre Stage will present "Good Kids" Nov. 16–Dec. 5 in the Pavilion Theatre.

When Richard St. Clair was charged with creating the hats for Penn State Centre Stage’s production of "Titanic," he didn’t simply fall back on his 30 years of experience to get the job done. In May 2015, he took an intensive two-week course in millinery at the Arts University of Bournemouth, England, during which he produced four hats from the "Titanic era," one of which is being used in the show. His trip was funded by an Individual Faculty Grant from the Institute for the Arts and Humanities.

Penn State Centre Stage will present the Tony Award-winning musical "Titanic" Oct. 5-17 at the Pavilion Theatre on the University Park campus. With music and lyrics by Maury Yeston and book by Peter Stone, "Titanic" opened on Broadway in 1997 and subsequently won five Tony Awards.

The School of Theatre will present “Julius Caesar” on the steps of Old Main, at 7:30 p.m. April 15–17. Free and open to the public, the production features School of Theatre faculty member and alumnus Wendell Franklin as Julius Caesar, alumnus Nathan James as Brutus, and numerous theater undergraduate and graduate students in the other roles. This production is set in a contemporary African nation to draw parallels between modern African dictatorships and Shakespeare’s Roman Republic of 44 B.C. under the dictatorship of Julius Caesar.

Penn State Centre Stage’s production of "Blood at the Root," which toured to South Africa and the Edinburgh Festival Fringe this summer, won the Holden Street Theatres' Edinburgh Fringe Award and will be performed at the Adelaide (Australia) Fringe Festival, Feb. 13 to March 15, 2015. Every year, Australia’s Holden Street Theatres awards a Fringe production a transfer to the Adelaide festival the following year. The award is based on artistic merit, production value and touring capabilities. This year, "Blood at the Root" will share that honor with "Mush and Me," with both shows headlining Holden Street’s Adelaide Fringe season.